Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born August 3, 1979) is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Kate Austen in ABC's, Lost, a role for which she won multiple Saturn Awards and Teen Choice Awards and a Golden Globe nomination. Lilly is also known for her roles in the feature films Afterwards, The Hurt Locker, and Real Steel. Lilly will appear in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, the final two movies of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy.

Evangeline Lilly was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, and raised in British Columbia by her father, a produce manager, and mother. She graduated from W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where she played soccer and was vice president of the student council. She speaks fluent French.

While in college, Lilly worked as a flight attendent for Royal Airlines, a waitress, and as a grease monkey to pay for her tuition. Her acting career began when she was discovered walking the streets of Kelowna, British Columbia, by a Ford Modeling Agency agent. Lilly took the card but did not immediately pursue acting. She eventually called and the agency landed her several roles in commercials and non-speaking parts in the TV show Smallville and Kingdom Hospital and the film The Lizzie McGuire Movie.

On December 20, 2006, an electrical problem set fire to Lilly's house in Kailua, Hawaii, destroying the house and all of her possessions while she was on the set of Lost. Though she lost all she owned, Lilly said the fire "was almost liberating. I'm in no hurry to clutter up my life again."Lilly was previously married to Canadian hockey player Murray Hone. From 2004 to 2009, she dated Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan. She had her first child, a son named Kahekili (Hawaiian for "the thunder"), with boyfriend Norman Kali in Hawaii in May of 2011.

Lilly grew up Christian and her faith influenced her decision to take part in a three-week mission trip to the Philippines when she was 18. Her interest in humanitarian causes and global development led her to major in International Relations at the University of British Columbia. Lilly continues to work with nonprofits such as the GO Campaign. In 2009, Lilly auctioned off custom lingerie in support of Task Brasil, "a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the lost street children of Brazil by providing them secure housing." In 2010, she auctioned off three lunches in Vancouver, Honolulu, and Los Angeles to help widows and orphans in Rwanda, a country Lilly has made numerous trips to as part of her charity work. In 2012 Lilly auctioned off a Hawaiian hike to raise money for Sierra Club.

After shooting the final episode of Lost, Lilly said she was considering taking a break from acting to focus on her charity and humanitarian efforts. She told Vulture, "I consider acting a day job — it's not my dream; it's not my be-all, end-all." She has claimed to use her actress earnings to further her humanitarian efforts, not the other way around.

In 2008, Lilly starred in the Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker. She and the rest of the cast won the Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast and the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble. Lilly followed her role in The Hurt Locker with a leading part opposite 'John Malkovich' in Afterwards, a psychological thriller directed by Gilles Bourdos.

In 2010, Lilly stated her intention to focus on children's book writing and on feature film roles. On May 11, 2010, Lilly announced on The View that she places writing and being a mother as top priorities, but she likes acting as a day job and she will continue acting when possible.

In 2011, Lilly appeared as Bailey Tallet in Real Steel alongside 'Hugh Jackman'. Despite having turned down a number of movie offers, she traveled to Los Angeles to acquire the part a few days after director Shawn Levy sent her the script. Levy said he cast her because Lilly is "magnificent to look at, she's soulful, and she's sexy with Hugh. I needed someone who you believed had grown up in a man's world. Bailey needed to have a strength and a toughness that was not at the expense of her being womanly".

In 2012, Lilly was cast to play the role of the Woodland Elf Tauriel in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The character, which does not appear in the original book by Tolkien, was created by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh as the head of the Elven guard who, like Legolas (who also appears in the film), wields a bow and two daggers as weapons. Lilly, who had been a fan of Tolkien's books since she was 13, underwent training for swordplay and archery, as well as in the Elvish language for the role.

Ranked as #75 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)

Has two sisters - younger sister is named Andrea.

Fluent in French and loves ice skating, canoeing, kayaking, snowboarding and rock climbing.

First discovered by agent Jeff Palffy, formerly Ford Models, now with PMG Management in Vancouver, who was instrumental in her first break on Lost.

Voted one of the Breakout Stars of 2004 by Entertainment Weekly Magazine

Met boyfriend 'Dominic Monaghan' (qv) on the set of _"Lost" (2004)_ (qv). They have dated ever since 2004.

Before starring on _"Lost" (2004)_ (qv), she worked a variety of other jobs. She has worked as a flight attendant, waitress, and completed oil changes on big rigs while doing commercials and modeling to earn money for University.